Prior art high frequency terminating devices are available in a wide assortment of styles and shapes but most of these have deficiencies either in the frequency range, the power handling capability or in ability to be used with planar waveguide technology. One of the better prior art terminating devices for coaxial cable is illustrated by a patent to Hanson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,438,915, issued Apr. 6, 1947. This uses the concept of milling or otherwise forming a device which continuously varies the gap between ground and the conductive element. This device has high power capabilities and a wide frequency range. However, it is not easily adaptable to microstrip technology and compared with microstrip technology, can be very expensive to manufacture.
The present invention can be mass produced using standard thin and thick film circuit manufacturing techniques. By using a series cascade of resistive elements and connecting transmission lines where the sum of the resistance of the resistive elements is equal to the desired termination impedance and the impedance of any given interconnecting transmission line is equal to the sum of the remaining resistive elements, a terminating device is obtainable which operates from DC to frequencies in excess of ten gigahertz.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improved termination device utilizing present day manufacturing technology.